Arlington Conservation Commission Approves Winchester Country Club Wetlands Projects, Backs Rodenticide Ban

ARLINGTON -- February 19, 2026, Arlington's Conservation Commission endorsed two rodenticide ban warrant articles and approved wetlands work for Winchester Country Club at its February 19 remote meeting. The commission voted 3-0, with member David Kaplan abstaining, to back both a home rule petition seeking to ban first-generation anticoagulant rodenticides on private property and a companion non-binding resolution asking Town Manager Jim Feeney to extend the ban to town-owned public lands, the first such local action on FGARs in the state. Laura Kiesel of Save Arlington Wildlife presented necropsy data showing a gray fox found dead in East Arlington last July had chlorofacinone levels near 700 parts per billion, nearly triple the mammalian lethal threshold, with a Select Board hearing on the home rule petition set for the following Monday. The commission also unanimously approved orders of conditions for two Winchester Country Club notices of intent covering fairway reconfiguration and social pavilion improvements along Herbert Meyer Brook, with conditions requiring permanent habitat restoration, no broadcast herbicide spraying, and five years of invasive species reporting before any certificate of compliance can be considered.